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Father, calm yourself. You’re scaring our guests.
Muahwa, the crown prince, put a hand on his father’s shoulder and gently made him sit down again. The silence that had fallen quickly became a buzzing noise again as people resumed their conversations and feasting.
That reminded Macey that she hadn’t even started to eat. With all that Staran conversation, she hadn’t even noticed how one of the servants had put a covered plate in front of her. Well, not a real plate. It was a massive, white scallop containing... algae soup? Perhaps? It was hard to tell from the green slime staring back at her. It looked very alive. And disgusting.
There were several ways of preparing algae, and this was not one of them. She took her fork and aimlessly stirred the green mass. It squelched.
This feast was going to be one big disappointment.
Are your rooms to your liking? Muahwa asked, having taken a seat on his father’s side.
Macey blushed at the thought of what she’d done there not long ago, but court etiquette had schooled her not to show embarrassment. Instead, she nodded curtly.
“Thank you very much for your hospitality. I’m assuming we’ll talk about the reason why we’re here after the feast?”
Yes, we will. Do you not like our sea snail algae mousse?
Her stomach did a flip. Now she was glad she hadn’t touched the food yet. Sea snail! What barbarians!
She cleared her throat. “I’m a vegetarian.”
That was as good an excuse as any.
What is that?
Okay, maybe not such a good excuse.
It was strange how both kelpies and na fir ghorma both lived underwater, but had such different lifestyles. Maybe living in a loch surrounded by human civilisation had made her more aware of the outside world than these people stuck on the bottom of the ocean.
“I don’t eat meat,” she explained and the crown prince looked at her in wonder.
But what else non-meat is there but algae?
“Kelp, water lilies, water chestnuts, reedmace and many others. There’s a wide variety of plants in lakes, if you look closely. Most of us don’t eat the other creatures we share the lochs with. Don’t you have fish as pets?”
Muahwa laughed. We don’t live in the water. How should we have fish in here? He pointed at the hall, completely dry and filled with air.
Macey felt like an idiot. Of course, they didn’t have fish living with them. Which probably explained why they ate them - just like the King, who was currently munching on the fried fin of a seabass.
11
Come, Muahwa said after the meal had finished. Macey sighed. She was hungry, grumpy and really didn’t want to have to deal with whatever it was Muahwa wanted. Regardless, she stood up to follow him, dimly aware of the three men doing the same. Good. That meant she wouldn’t have to face whatever this was alone. There was a certain kind of comfort in that.
No one said anything as they were taken into a small, but comfortable looking room. Like everywhere else, the roof was entirely see-through, allowing a rare glimpse into a world no one else could see. Unlike everywhere else, the wall to the outside was also unencumbered, and Macey drifted over towards it, entranced by the underwater world.
She’d never felt as small and unworldly as she did at that moment, looking into the great abyss before her, with the creatures she’d never swum with going about their lives. The bottom of the sea held wonders and dangers that she couldn’t even imagine, and hadn’t had a reason to until now. In fact, the home of the na fir ghorma only proved it more to her. She hadn’t even realised the other kelpies existed, so what else did the sea hold? Other than mermaids and selkies, she had no real clue. And she wasn’t in any rush to meet any of them given her Aunt Nessie’s stories about them.
Beautiful, isn’t it? Muahwa asked, stepping up beside her to look out into the ocean. A large shadow passed overhead at that moment, and Macey looked up in awe as what looked like a basking shark swum over head. The huge, but surprisingly graceful and gentle creature was something to behold. She couldn’t even work out whether she wanted to swim with it or not. It’d be an experience that was for sure. But at the same time, the sea was a lot bigger than the loch she’d grown up in.
“Yes,” she whispered.
It’s in trouble. He sounded resigned, and she once again marvelled at the emotions he could convey just by speaking in her head. Or maybe he could convey more because he was speaking in her head. She was just going to go with it. After the events of the past few days, that was really her only option. Especially if she wanted to stay sane
“In trouble from what?” she asked, conscious of the silence in the room which meant her men were likely listening intently too. Though given that Muahwa could speak directly into their heads anyway, it wouldn’t matter if there was an entire brass band playing the loudest fanfare they could muster, they’d still be able to hear.
The Sìth.
“But you father sai—”
